The Unretiring Reagans

A Posh Roost, Book Deals, Parties And A Drug Bust

BEL-AIR, CALIF. — The house and grounds are private and secluded, almost spooky. Indeed you could imagine the place being used as the set for one of Hollywood`s made-for- TV mystery movies.

The entrance is guarded by stone walls, tall iron gates, detection devices and a sentry house manned 24 hours a day. A chain-link fence surrounds the property, and it`s been fitted with a durable cloth backing that runs its entire length, screening out obtrusive sounds and intrusive peeping by tourists and other gawkers. In fact, the house can only be viewed from the air or the property of adjoining neighbors.

It could be the estate of a reclusive movie star, a paranoid gangster or an eccentric millionaire, except that the house is small-ridiculously small by neighborhood standards-and the elaborate security is paid for by the taxpayers of the United States. This posh little hideaway on Bel-Air`s awesomely exclusive St. Cloud Drive, overlooking Beverly Hills and all of the Los Angeles basin, is the retirement home of Ronald and Nancy Reagan.

The lone telltale sign of the Reagans` occupancy is one that only someone with the deductive powers of a Sherlock Holmes might detect. The ``8`` in the street number sign ``668`` is much newer than the ``6s.`` In the New Testament Book of Revelations, the number ``666,`` the property`s original address, is associated with Satan. Mrs. Reagan is a superstitious person, as revelations about her White House dependence on astrology make clear. The address was changed at her behest to ``668`` on city records, though the post office still lists it as ``666.``

A HOLLYWOOD `COTTAGE`

Their house, purchased for $2.5 million by a consortium of 18 friends and leased to them for an estimated $15,000 a month, is a California rambler or

``ranch style,`` a real estate description Mrs. Reagan reportedly abhors. Decorated by the pricey Ted Graeber, it has servants` quarters, a swimming pool, a greenhouse and five bathrooms but only three bedrooms, and it occupies just 7,000 square feet.

On the hillside overlooking it is a three-story, neo-French Hollywood chateau worth $20 million owned by sports promoter Jerry Perenchio. Down the street is a $15 million house recently sold to a Hong Kong businessman. Another neighbor is diamond collector Liz Taylor. Not far away is the $52 million, 56,000-square-foot house of TV mogul Aaron Spelling.

By presidential standards, the Reagans are doing well. By Hollywood`s, it`s really nothing.

The man who sells souvenir ``Maps of the Stars`` down the hill on Sunset Boulevard reports a brisk sight-seeing interest in ``the Reagan gate,``

ranking it with the nearby homes of Jimmy Stewart and Lucille Ball as a tourist attraction. But the gate is all they get to see.

PRIVATE BUT ACTIVE

The Reagans led two lives during their eight years in the White House:

the highly public one of political events, antidrug crusades and state occasions; and a very private one. As soon as they were offstage, they sought the seclusion of their family eyrie. Reagan loved most being alone with his wife and television set but also enjoyed his retreats to Camp David and his Pacific Coast ranch near Santa Barbara. Mrs. Reagan led a discreet, fairly secret social life among the wealthy and glamorous on both coasts, exhibiting a particular fondness for fashion figures.

Their new life then is much like their old-without the presidential duties or public occasions.

This is not to say they`ve become hermits.

``They`re very active,`` said Mark Weinberg, who left the White House press office to become the spokesman for the Reagans in retirement.

``President Reagan comes to the office every day (spending about six hours). Mrs. Reagan comes regularly but less often. They`re writing their books and working on speeches. They answer mail. They travel. Mrs. Reagan is also busy with her drug-abuse center. She recently met with the (Los Angeles) chief of police on drug problems. They do a lot of work from home, especially Mrs. Reagan. They go to the ranch. And they go to church every Sunday.``

The Reagans` suite of offices, commanding a view that extends from the ocean to the towers of downtown Los Angeles to the east, is on the 34th floor of the new Fox Plaza building, part of the swank Century City complex just off Santa Monica Boulevard and only about 20 minutes from their house (a real zip in sprawling L.A.). Mrs. Reagan`s new antidrug center is about 15 minutes from their house in the opposite direction. Her antidrug Nancy Reagan Foundation is headquartered in the Fox Plaza high-rise. Reagan`s presidential library is going up in the Simi Valley, about 30 miles northwest of L.A.